Wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. Consumers have become dependent upon wireless communication devices and have come to expect reliable service, expanded areas of coverage and increased functionality. A wireless communication system may provide communication for a number of cells, each of which may be serviced by a base station. A base station may be a fixed station that communicates with mobile stations.
A wireless communication device may communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on the uplink and the downlink. The uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the wireless communication device to the base station, and the downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base station to the wireless communication device. A wireless communication system may simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile stations.
Various signal processing techniques may be used in wireless communication systems to improve efficiency and quality of wireless communication. One such technique may include sending reference signals from a wireless communication device. Reference signals may be used to determine various operational parameters of the wireless communication system. Therefore, benefits may be realized by improved techniques for assigning and coordinating uplink reference signals.